Land Trust cleans up

NEW HARTFORD — The New Hartford Land Trust (NHLT) participated in the state’s Trails Day Weekend with a cleanup event on Saturday, June 7, at the Alfred Sabolcik property. The 90-acre property, located off of Sabolcik Road, was willed to the NHLT by Alfred Sabolcik after he died in 2009.“We were thrilled when we found out about the property because we never knew he was planning on giving it to the land trust,” land trust member Karen Meares said. “I knew him very well and he never said a word about it.”According to Meares, Sabolcik’s parents purchased the farmland in the 1920s when it was part of a group of farms that once extended from New Hartford all the way to Canton. “This is one of the last of those farms remaining, and he did not want the property developed,” Meares said.Twenty-five volunteers, including 13 teenagers and 12 adults, gathered on the property at 9 a.m. to begin work. Those present included NHLT members and friends, one local family and several students from Northwest Regional High School. Volunteers divided into groups and tackled individual projects, including posting NHLT markers on the trees, surveying the property, clearing debris, emptying out old storage containers and creating a fenced-in area for displaying and identifying old farm equipment.NHLT president Madeline McClave said she was very pleased with the turnout and expressed her excitement about the future of the property. “We’re trying to open the area up for hiking,” McClave said. “We’ve done guided hikes before here, and it’s really a beautiful area.” According to McClave, Saturday’s event was just one of many efforts that the land trust has undertaken to restore the land and they hope to have it ready for an opening event this coming fall.